The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals were tied scorelessly at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday night. Manager A.J. Hinch decided to take left-hander Tarik Skubal out of the game despite the fact that he was pitching an effective 90 pitches in seven scoreless innings and showed no indications of weariness. The final score for the Tigers’ defeat was 1-0.
After the defeat, Hinch’s choice to pull Skubal was undoubtedly a major concern. The Tigers’ captain defended the decision in spite of the outcome, pointing to the long-term health of both his ace and Detroit’s entire pitching staff.
Hinch stated, “Listen, it’s way easier to just let guys go until they can’t go anymore” (via Detroit Free Press reporter Evan Petzold). “All of our pitchers are needed… It doesn’t always follow that the choice wasn’t taken with some intention when it doesn’t work out for you. The season is lengthy, of course. To go where we need to go, we must run the race. Really, all you have to do is take a look at our rotation and the league’s rotation. Getting through the race is difficult. Without having to make some tough choices along the road, getting wire to wire is challenging.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch defends controversial decision to pull Tarik Skubal after 90 pitches vs Royals
The rest, as they say, is history. Nick Loftin was scored by Beau Brieske, who came on as a substitute for Skubal and gave up an RBI single to Vinnie Pasquantino, which was all it needed for Kansas City to win and prevent the Tigers from sweeping their opponents in the American League Central division.
Tigers supporters had several “what-ifs” about Hinch’s in-game choice in light of the outcome. However, judgments on pitching and game management are not made in a vacuum. Skubal’s previous start was a nine-inning shutout against the Cleveland Guardians on May 25, which was the longest start of his career. This was one of numerous reasons why Hinch decided to pull Skubal after seven innings.
Even if the Tigers may have lost a game as a result of Hinch’s conservative choice, it is still crucial to keep pitchers healthy, particularly Skubal. Even without Alex Cobb, who might never pitch in a Tigers shirt at this pace, three players in the rotation have already been placed on the disabled list in June.
The current AL Cy Young winner must remain healthy for the Tigers to have any chance of winning the World Series. That’s OK if it means he’s removed one inning too early in a regular season game. Detroit’s season won’t be made or broken by a single defeat to Kansas City in May.
